WEATHERSFIELD — A “decades-old problem” with water pressure in some Mineral Ridge neighborhoods is closer than ever to being solved.

Weathersfield Township officials reached out to Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer’s Office officials in 2014 over water pressure and volume problems within the Mineral Ridge Water District and to discuss the “historical perspective of this decades-old problem.”

Officials already had been working on the problem for months by then, a letter from the township to the sanitary engineer’s office about seven years ago states.

“The township believes that we have reached a tipping point with our residents, our businesses and our township fire department,” the letter from township Administrator David Rouan states. “… Our fire chief has serious concerns about the ability of the township’s fire departments to effectively fight fires within the Mineral Ridge Water District as a direct result of this problem.”

The 1,100-customer water district is supplied by two water sources, the city of Youngstown and the city of Niles, said Scott Verner, interim assistant sanitary engineer.

The Youngstown-supplied water has more pressure, but other parts of the district supplied by Niles have the low pressure issue, Verner said.

The biggest factor in the low pressure was the lack of an elevated water tank for the Niles-supplied water, Verner said.

A CT Consultants study in 2017 looked at the best ways to address the issue. The work to fix it is expected to begin in September and will take more than a year to complete, Verner said.

The project includes two parts, construction of 3,200 feet of 12-inch water main and booster station on the north side of the entrance to the Meander Water Pollution Control facility; and a 300,000-gallon tank on Prospect Street, adjacent to the Weathersfield Township Administration building, Verner said.

The land for the tank was donated by Vista Realty Holdings, Verner said, the Dublin, Ohio-owned company that operates the neighboring Vista Center at the Ridge, a skilled nursing facility.

The estimate to build the tank was $2 million; a $1.992 million contract was awarded to Caldwell Tanks of Louisville, Ky. The water main and booster station estimate was $1.55 million, and a $1.168 million contract was awarded to utility Contracting of Youngstown, Verner said.

“We are very pleased with the contract amounts, especially given the current climate of construction with limited supplies,” Verner said.

The contracts are in the process of being executed and a preconstruction meeting is expected to be held in August, Verner said.

“This project is going to increase pressures where pressures were somewhat inadequate at times; but, most importantly, it will provide increased fire flows with the additional volume necessary during fire demand. It is a public health and welfare project,” Verner said.

It is a lengthy process to construct a tank, Verner said. The project is expected to conclude about 540 days after it begins.

Officials are excited for the project, Verner said.

The late township fire Chief Randall Pugh was a big supporter of the project, Verner said.

“He was instrumental in the project. It is too bad he wasn’t around to see it completed,” Verner said.